Mexican-American heavyweight produced a blistering display to dismantle defending champion Junior Dos Santos to regain the UFC heavyweight championship of the world in Las Vegas

Dominant performance: Cain Velasquez dismantled world champion Junior Dos Santos throughout all five rounds of their UFC championship bout

After 25 minutes of dominance over defending champ Junior Dos Santos, Mexican-American heavyweight Cain Velasquez removed the word "former" from his title "former UFC heavyweight champion" as he regained the belt he'd lost to the Brazilian last November.

Back then, Velasquez, defending his title while injured, was knocked out in 64 seconds by Dos Santos. It was the only defeat of Velasquez's professional career.

But on Saturday night, in front of a packed crowd at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, a fully-fit Velasquez produced a performance of speed, power and endurance to outstrike, outwrestle and outlast defending champion Dos Santos to regain his title.

Velasquez set a furious pace in the opening round, forcing Dos Santos onto the back foot, mixing up quick strikes and powerful takedown attempts.

Initially Dos Santos was able to bounce back up after being taken down by Velasquez's wrestling, but after half a round of relentless pressure, Dos Santos began to visibly slow down.

Velasquez saw his moment, and uncorked a huge right hand that left the champion in all sorts of trouble.

The former champ swarmed all over Dos Santos, peppering the Brazilian with punches as he looked for a first-round stoppage.

Somehow Dos Santos made it to the interval, but the following four rounds brought similar punishment.

Dos Santos' big chance, his power punching, appeared to have been nullified by Velasquez's breathless first round onslaught. The champ had little left for the remaining four rounds, and spent much of them in survival mode.

Velasquez, perhaps wary of Dos Santos' fight-ending power, opted to play relatively safe, using smothering tactics and repetitive takedowns to nullify what was left of the Brazilian's power.

By the time the siren sounded to end the contest, everyone in the arena, including both fighters, knew the guard had changed once more.

Dos Santos, his face battered and bruised, was almost unrecognisable from the man who stepped into the Octagon as the UFC heavyweight champion.

Velasquez's reaction was a mixture of exhaustion and sheer relief. He had maintained he wasn't fully fit when he lost his title originally, and on Saturday night he put the record straight with as dominant a performance as we've seen by a world title challenger.

Now, both fighters will have to consider their immediate plans for the future. For Dos Santos, time to recover, then time in the gym to work on his takedown defence. For Velasquez, rest and recuperation before learning who he'll fight next.

The likely opponent is hulking Dutchman Alistair Overeem, who is scheduled to fight former Velasquez victim Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva in February.

Should Overeem prevail impressively, he'll almost certainly be lined up to face Velasquez in another heavyweight superfight.

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Mexican-American heavyweight Cain Velasquez produced a stunning performance to dismantle defending champion Junior Dos Santos to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title. See how we reported the big fight in our round-by-round live blog recap

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Mexican-American heavyweight Cain Velasquez produced a stunning performance to dismantle defending champion Junior Dos Santos to reclaim the UFC heavyweight title. See how we reported the big fight in our round-by-round live blog recap